Organic treatment as a prevention against thrips, aphids, mites?

This is my first year growing Chilli plants in tropical weather. In the four months that I have my chilli plants, I have faced minor infestations of aphids, thrips, and mites. I treated them with pyrethrin base insecticide, as well as neem spray. It seems to work but the pest keep coming back within a few weeks. I have to be very vigilant, quick detection and response is the only way to prevent the infection from getting out of control. I am trying to avoid the use of any systemic insecticide after reading about it.

I believe prevention is better than cure thus I am hoping to find some sort of organic treatment that is harmless to the plants and that I can spray on a weekly basis as a deterrent and prevention against aphids, thrips and mites.

This is my first year growing Chilli plants in tropical weather. In the four months that I have my chilli plants, I have faces minor infestations of aphids, thrips, and mites. I treat them with pyrethrin base insecticide, as well as neem sprays. It seem to work but the pest keep coming back after a few weeks. I have to be very vigilant and quick detection and response is the only way to prevent the infection from getting out of control. I am trying to avoid the use of any systemic insecticide after reading about it.

I believe prevention is better than cure thus I am hoping to find some sort of organic treatment that harmless to the plants and that I can spray on a weekly basis as a deterrent and prevention against aphids, thrips and mites.

Any recommendation would be great. Thanks in advance

Mark T

as for aphids .. you need to take care of the ants. ant powder.... to get rid of the ants . as for thrips, use the yellow sticky plastic . hang them near the plant. it also works for white flys. spray garlic and neem bi-weekly. Mites is one difficult pest.

as for aphids .. you need to take care of the ants. ant powder.... to get rid of the ants . as for thrips, use the yellow sticky plastic . hang them near the plant. it also works for white flys. spray garlic and neem bi-weekly. Mites is one difficult pest.

As you know my organic measures didn't work, so I went for Malathion; the least worst non-organic insecticide. It works, but my worst problem has been soil borne diseases. Still battling that with Chitosan concentrate once a week in the soil.Cheers.

As you know my organic measures didn't work, so I went for Malathion; the least worst non-organic insecticide. It works, but my worst problem has been soil borne diseases. Still battling that with Chitosan concentrate once a week in the soil.Cheers.

for your info mark. i too have resorted to malathion. i have tried the organic stuffs. its slow. and attacks become more frequent.

from olive aphids , the latest attack were from peach coloured aphids now.

Thanks for your input, its looks like growing chilli organically in our tropical weather is not as easy as it seems :-) It makes me wonder how the commercial growers manage to grow such beautiful looking vegetables. Pytherins that I used seems to be effective against thrips and aphids but not mites. My mites outbreak happens within 1 week after I use pytherins. I read that mites hate humid wet condition and thrives in dry and hot conditions. That could explain why only certain plant i have are infected. I guess malathion would be an option if all else didn't work. Thanks again

If your spraying insecticide on your plants you also kill the good bugs, without some bad bugs zero good bugs would exist. Insecticide kills everything, bad bugs come first followed by good bugs. It is quit possible by the time you notice the bad bugs your friendly bugs have laid their eggs and or the larvae have hatched already. If you spray everything with poison you kill everything, then your neighbors(bad bugs) see an opening move in, all the predators where killed by you so they get free reign. I found these Midge fly larvae destroying aphids, they can eat 65 aphids a day. Try mixing 2 tablespoons of pepper extract, 4 to 6 drops dish detergent and the rest water in an old rinsed out spray bottle. Spray tops and bottoms of leaves after several weeks the natural predators should be back to full strength. Borax mixed with Brown sugar, honey, or maple syrup, is a good sweet ant bait, with no ant transporters aphids can't move around as much.

as for aphids .. you need to take care of the ants. ant powder.... to get rid of the ants . as for thrips, use the yellow sticky plastic . hang them near the plant. it also works for white flys. spray garlic and neem bi-weekly. Mites is one difficult pest.

Mites......little buggers are endemic if you have pine trees.My neighbor does,along the property line .Neem oil soap,coffee grounds do seem to be somewhat effective but it must be a regular campaign.Those sticky strips saved my seedlings as my propagation area is garage shed-to much in and out to prevent critter build up.For the possums(they love bone meal).......cayenne and my secret weapon:

www.lonesurvivorfoundation.org
"A gov't big enough to give you everything you need, is big enough to take everything you have.";"DO THE RIGHT THING"

Location:In the Soil Food Web or performing cunnilingus on a Yellow 7 Pod

Posted 05 September 2011 - 01:15 PM

Organic sprays like pyrethrins, work FINE. Of course in two weeks you see more bugs, BECAUSE the spray you used was ORGANIC! lol Thats a GOOD thing! When they come back, their numbers are never as bad as before, and you can apply the spray again if it really "bugs" you that bad. The real trick here is to know when your aphid/mite/thrip issue is a problem. Some people think that if they see 1 or 50 that they MUST KILL ALL LIVING THINGS! This is bad gardening practice. Without a few pests the good bugs have nothing to eat and therefore will leave your garden in search of food. I have plants that 500 ahpids wouldn't harm. If you're growing organically then you shouldn't have many pest problems anyway.

If you want to make spray yourself Put a big piece of ginger and three heads of garlic and water into a blender the smaller you can make it the better, strain spray the liquid on the plants and or ferment the mix start by placing mix into bowl cover with beer or wine for 12 hours add 1/3 molasses to the mix cover with cloth so it will breathe. let set for 7-10 days in a warm dark place. strain add a couple of ounces of 40 proof or more alcohol it will stabilizes and arrest fermentation.use liquid two to four tablespoons to the gal of water may have to spray a couple of times to get all bugs.also makes a good fungicide and plant Natural antibiotic.Sometimes, you can use more diluted form but with more frequent applications There is no clear cut rule. Things have to be based on experimentations, experiences.and observations especially with organics what works for me may not work in your climate.I use the above mix with two spoon fulls of neem pure neem 100% not the shit that Lowe's has go to a nursery, cheap is not always better.Good luck if you have any questions please ask Alex

Thanks for all the advice I will definitely look into Chilli, garlic ginger spray. Just want something that is harmless to the plants and the environment, I don't mind putting the hard work and time by spraying them once or twice a week.

Borax is the active ingredient in many ant baits, it is a systemic insecticide and is completely natural. Insects ingest it and cease to be a problem. Adding it to a sweet food source attracts the ants that love the sweet excrement of aphids, they eat the laced food and cease to exist.